Jeremy Renner will star alongside Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 4!

Big news for Tom Cruise’s MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 4, which has been standing on some pretty wobbly legs until the last few weeks or so. One of the big issues the film was having was casting a new agent to play opposite Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, and recently we heard that Kevin Zegers, Christopher Egan and Anthony Mackie were all being considered for the role.

Well, it appears the answer is none of the above, and Paramount has selected Jeremy Renner to the film’s second lead. Hot off last year’s THE HURT LOCKER and recently scoring the part of Hawkeye in THE AVENGERS, this is yet another big role for Renner, as the role is supposed to be someone who might be able to carry on the franchise solo at a later date, after being schooled by Ethan Hunt.

Reportedly the bosses said Renner had a "Daniel Craig quality"(I’d say Craig is barely more tested than Renner at this point though), and I suppose you can’t recruit James Bond to be in your American James Bond movie.

I have to wonder if the part is staying as written. Cruise is 48, and Renner is 41. The studio was originally looking at much younger selections, as in addition to the three I mentioned, Chris Pine and Tom Hardy were being considered, and Renner just seems a bit old for a "young novice agent" role, don’t you think?

But whatever the plot ends up being, Cruise and Renner should be a powerhouse combo, and it appears this actually will be a project to look forward to after all.